Major Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine kill several, wound dozens

A barrage of Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least nine people and wounded dozens across Ukraine, authorities said Tuesday, just days after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was preparing a “massive new strike.”

Russia has bombarded Ukraine almost daily since launching an offensive in 2022, often provoking retaliation from Kyiv, as talks to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II remain stalled.

Russia launched 656 drones and 73 missiles at Ukraine Monday night and overnight Tuesday, Ukraine’s air force said. Forty of the missiles and 602 drones were downed or neutralized but 38 sites were hit, with Kyiv the main target, the air force said.

For its part, Russia’s military said it carried out a “massive strike” on targets in Ukraine with hypersonic missiles among the munitions. Moscow said it targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.

AFP journalists heard several explosions in the Ukrainian capital, where local authorities said Russia struck with ballistic missiles, setting off fires, cutting power in several districts and trapping people in damaged buildings.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people were killed and at least 58, including two children, were wounded in the “mass enemy attack.”

“Explosions in the city. Air defense forces are working! Stay in shelters!” Klitschko had warned earlier.

Residents rushed to shelters clutching bags and blankets, AFP journalists observed, as a large plume of smoke emanated from Kyiv’s city center.

“The enemy is striking with ballistic missiles,” said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration.

“We couldn’t understand what was happening – some kind of apocalypse?” Reuters quoted Olha Mudra as saying at the site of one strike. She had her six-year-old daughter with her. “Everything was covered (with debris), everything in smoke, you could see nothing,” she said in front of a destroyed apartment building and damaged cars.

The attack on Kyiv cut electricity to 140,000 residents, power company DTEK told Reuters, but utility workers restored power to 110,000 residents, DTEK said. 

Deadly strikes, involving both missiles and drones, were also reported elsewhere.

In the city of Dnipro, a Russian attack killed five people and wounded 25 others — three of whom were in serious condition — local governor Oleksandr Ganzha said. The Associated Press said at least six people were killed there and 36 others injured, according Ukraine’s state emergency service. A second attack as first responders got to the scene killed a rescuer, the AP said.

Ten people, including a child, were wounded in the city of Kharkiv, according to the mayor, Igor Terekhov.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in Russia’s Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said.

Another drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the southwestern city of Krasnodar, its operational headquarters said on Telegram.

The strikes on Ukraine came after Zelensky said on Friday “we have intelligence information about Russia preparing a new massive strike” and called for people to “protect your lives.”

“Please pay attention to air alerts, protect your lives,” he said. “Our services are working efficiently and are prepared; the Air Force and other defenders of our skies will be on duty 24/7, as always.”

The Ukrainian president has reiterated his call to allies to allow and finance the supply of Patriot missiles, which can intercept Russian ballistic missiles.

He wrote to President Trump and Congress last week asking for Patriot systems to respond to the intensifying Russian air attacks.

Ukraine has also stepped up its strikes on occupied territories and on Russia in retaliation for the daily Russian bombardments.

Russia launched a record 8,150 long-range drones at Ukraine in May, an AFP analysis of Ukrainian air force data showed, up 24 percent from April.

Kyiv intercepted about 90 percent of the incoming drones and missiles in May, according to air force data.